‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ may not release in the India, UAE Due to Censorship

Fifty Shades of Grey, the movie adaptation of the first part of James’s best-selling erotic trilogy, will not be opening in India on February 13. Scheduled to be released ahead of Valentine’s Day, the movie directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson has not been able to get a censor screening date from the Mumbai office of the Central Board of Film Certification. If the movie’s international distributor, NBCUniversal, gets a date later in the week, there is a likelihood that the movie will arrive on February 20, it may also not release in the UAE. Countries such as Kenya, Indonesia and Malaysia have already banned the film, making this region the latest country to follow suit.

According to reports, the risque drama starring Jamie Dornan as kinky billionaire Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as his lover Anastasia Steele and with its liberal dose of nudity and sex, is poised to be the second-biggest February debut after the record set by The Passion Of Christ in 2004. Despite cold reviews from critics, Fifty Shades opened at No 1 in 55 foreign markets where it was released and has so far raked in a total of $158 million.

Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2015 American erotic romantic drama film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson with a screenplay by Kelly Marcel. Based on British author E. L. James’ bestselling novel of the same name, the film stars Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele, a college graduate who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with young business magnate Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan).

The film premiered at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 2015 and had a wide theatrical release on February 13, 2015 by Universal Pictures. Although the film received generally mixed reviews from critics, it was an immediate box office success, earning more than $266 million. A sequel is planned for a 2016 release.

By early 2012, several Hollywood studios were keen to obtain film rights to the New York Times bestselling Fifty Shades trilogy of novels. Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount, Universal and Mark Wahlberg’s production company put in bids for the film rights. Universal Pictures and Focus Features secured the rights to the trilogy in March 2012. Author James sought to retain some control during the movie’s creative process. James chose The Social Network producers Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti to produce the film. Although American Psycho writer Bret Easton Ellis publicly expressed his desire to write the screenplay for the film, Kelly Marcel, screenwriter of Saving Mr. Banks, was hired for the job. Patrick Marber was brought in by Taylor-Wood to polish the screenplay, specifically to do some “character work”. Universal hired Mark Bomback for script doctoring. Mark Bridges served as the costume designer. Entertainment Weekly estimated the film’s budget as “$40 million-or-so”.

Tickets for the film went on sale from January 11, 2015 in the United States. According to ticket-selling site Fandango, Fifty Shades of Grey is the fastest selling R-rated title in the site’s 15-year history, surpassing Sex and the City 2. It also had the biggest first week of ticket sales on Fandango for a non-sequel film, surpassing 2012’s The Hunger Games. It is fourth overall on Fandango’s list of top advance ticket sales behind The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and The Hunger Games. The demand prompted US theatre owners to add new showtimes. Weeks before the film’s release, several box office analysts suggested as much as a $60 million domestic four day opening while Box Office Mojo reported that a $100 million opening could be possible. Outside the United States, the film pre-sold 4.5 million tickets in 39 markets. In the UK, the film sold £1.3 million ($1.9 million) worth of tickets a week before its release. At this point, every channel worth its salt has made a Fifty Shades of Grey spoof.

So, while Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson are busy ‘whip’ping up some sinful fantasy for you to lap up this Valentine’s Day, it’s only fair that you familiarise yourself with the competition. We mean, the 50 or so spoofs of Fifty Shades of Grey, that have gone viral, have generated so much buzz that at one point they threatened to over-shadow the real thing! Here are the best (or worst) five.